“This idea was the deep subtext of our lives. It had to be. The visible text was survivalist.” — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
I think President [Barack] Obama deeply underestimated the force of white supremacy in American life. — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
I write what I write in the way that I write it. I'm not being abstract, you know. I'm talking about something… — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
“Whenever a woman smiled his way, she'd already begun dividing her life into trimesters.” — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
“I had not been prepared for the simple charm of watching someone you love grow.” — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
“I don’t ever want to forget that resistance must be its own reward, since resistance, at least within the life span of… — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
If, to the end of its existence, America harbors white supremacy, I don't know how remarkable that would be. France has dealt… — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
I did not know then that this is what life is - just when you master the geometry of one world, it… — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
Life is always a problem. The fact that I'm on the radio saying that I don't necessarily see hope does not relieve… — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
I had to learn to not be so hard. And I had a wife and, at that time, a partner when Samori… — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
“I don't ever want to lose sight of how short my time is here. And I don't ever want to forget that… — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
“To Trump whiteness is neither notional nor symbolic but is the very core of his power. In this, Trump is not singular. But whereas… — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
“The focus on one sector of Trump voters—the white working class—is puzzling, given the breadth of his white coalition. Indeed, there is a kind… — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
The greatest reward of this constant interrogation, confrontation with the brutality of my country, is that it has freed me from hosts and myths. — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
What I am telling you is that you do not need to know to love, and it is right that you feel it all… — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
I think 'Dear White People,' the show, is a tremendous artistic achievement. It's always hinting that there is something beyond the pleading and wokeness,… — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
[Winning the White House was an achievement], but as an African-American, [Barack Obama], I think the symbolism is in how he conducted himself. The… — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
What sets black people apart is not some deficit in personal responsibility. It's the weight on our shoulders. That is what's actually different. We… — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
Like a lot of people, I'm very, very concerned about Senator Clinton's record. I'm very, very concerned about where her positions were in the… — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
“I drove away, as always, thinking of you. I do not believe that we can stop them, Samori, because they must ultimately stop themselves.… — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
What I’m talking about is more than recompense for past injustices—more than a handout, a payoff, hush money, or a reluctant bribe. What I’m… — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
The mainstream sort of presentation of the civil rights movement was not something that I directly inherited. — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
[Grew up in Hawaii] that gave [Barack Obama] a kind of optimism, an ability to see things, you know, and frankly, an ability to… — Ta-Nehisi Coates Copy Share Image
![“I think President [Barack] Obama deeply underestimated the force of white supremacy in American life.” quote by Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/728/ta-nehisi-coates-733_american-life_i-think-president-barack-obama-deeply-un_2722029.jpg)
![“[Winning the White House was an achievement], but as an African-American, [Barack Obama], I think the symbolism is in how he conducted himself. The symbolism was in - and this sounds really, really small, but it's actually big for African-Americans - the symbolism was not in being an…” quote by Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/5dc/ta-nehisi-coates-733_achievement_winning-the-white-house-was-an-achieveme_47651.jpg)
![“[Grew up in Hawaii] that gave [Barack Obama] a kind of optimism, an ability to see things, you know, and frankly, an ability to trust, you know, in his fellow, you know, white countrymen in a way that I, for instance, you know, and the vast majority of black people I know never really could.” quote by Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/feb/ta-nehisi-coates-733_ability_grew-up-in-hawaii-that-gave-barack-obama_75931.jpg)